


Sharpen Your Blade

by Allen ux Ultor (The_Servant_of_Evil)



Category: Assassination Classroom, Bleach
Genre: How Do I Tag, Like Nagisa learned a few extra things so, Shit almost forgot tags, Sort of Canon Compliant?, Tags to be added as the story goes, uhh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2019-10-29 13:39:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17808995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Servant_of_Evil/pseuds/Allen%20ux%20Ultor
Summary: Rukia wasn’t sure what she expected when she walked into class that day. Perhaps a few humans sitting about waiting patiently. Maybe they would be milling about, having fun. Perhaps she even expected to see a fight. Well, that last one she got.She just didn’t expect to see the teacher as part of it





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh... I did this idea spontaneously, then managed to pump out a chapter within a day or so. I'm really hoping this turns out well, given that this is the first long form story I've told in years. This is already longer than my drabble fic...

    Rukia wasn’t sure what she expected when she walked into class that day. Perhaps a few humans sitting about waiting patiently. Maybe they would be milling about, having fun. Perhaps she even expected to see a fight. Well, that last one she got. She just didn’t expect to see the teacher as part of it

     She had had a long night just these past few hours. A human who could see ghosts. Having to transfer her powers to said human. Getting a Gigai from Urahara was already more than enough to exhaust her. She had expected to transfer into the school here, get in the same class as Ichigo. Threaten him into acting natural.

     But how could she do that when nobody in this class seemed to be acting in any such manner close to natural?

     There were three students currently trying to stab their sensei with a knife, two more were trying to punch or hit him, while most of the rest of them were waiting on the wings to try and catch him if he got too far away. In fact, the human from last night (Ichigo Kurosaki, if she recalled correctly) and a giant of a man with darker skin and hair that covered his eyes seemed to be the only ones not currently trying to get at the teacher.

     She sighed softly. Knocking on the door to get everyone’s attention, she looked at them. “Yes… this is class 1-3, right?”, she asked?

     “Indeed,” the teacher said, ducking under another swipe. “Okay, that’s enough of this attempt guys, head on back to your seats.” The students sighed and nodded, heading back and putting their weaponry away.

     Rukia took the chance to look over her new teacher. Standing about 16 centimeters taller than her with short blue hair and azure eyes, the man dressed in relaxed grey slacks and a blue suit vest over a white button up shirt. With slightly scuffed dress shoes and a black ties finishing his outfit, the man turned to Rukia with a smile. “Pleased to meet you, my name is Mr. Shiota, but please call me Mr. Nagisa or just Nagisa. If you could, step forward and introduce yourself to the class?” She nodded, stepping up in front of the teacher’s desk.

     “Hi. My name is Rukia Kuchiki. I hope we can get along.” She of course saw Ichigo’s eyes widen when she saw her. Before either of them could react though, their teacher cut them off.

     “Now, you can go sit in the empty desk by Ichigo. You two should know each other by now, given that Isshin gave me a call this morning to talk about how he was gonna be housing a third daughter for a friend.” Another shock for her, especially with the fact that who would’ve told this Isshin guy? From the look on his face, Ichigo was just as shocked.

     She forced herself to smile. Make the best of a strange situation. She walked over, sitting by her substitute, giving him a nod as their blue haired teacher called for attention. “Right then. Now, you all can fill her in on the class rules at lunch. For now, let’s all get started on class.Today we begin with my favorite subject. English.”

* * *

      Rukia sighed as she and Ichigo stood on the roof of the school during lunch, talking. “Okay so that was a hell of a first class…”

     “Nevermind that!”, Ichigo shouted. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were going back to that Soul Society or whatever.”

     “Only a Shinigami can go there,” she sighed, explaining. “Last night you took most of my powers, so I can’t go back right now. I had to inhabit this false body…”, she sighed. “Anyway, that does bring up a good point….” It was time to get her substitute working.

* * *

      After saving the boy from the Hollow Hexapodus, and still refusing to take the job of Shinigami, Rukia and Ichigo were currently walking through town, Ichigo thankfully in his body. The young Kuchiki sighed, looking at Ichigo. “So then… What’s the story with our teacher?”, she asked him.

     Ichigo hummed a moment, before sighing. “Well, Nagisa is an… interesting teacher… First day of class, he challenged us to try killing him before graduation. Said we couldn’t even get close. Of course, none of us assume he really means kill him, probably just get him into a lethal situation he can’t escape from, but he said whoever ‘kills him’ will get top marks from him for the rest of our time with him, so it’s not like there’s no point in trying.”

     She nodded. “Indeed… I could see why someone would want to take up that offer.”

     He nodded. “I don’t really do it… Mainly because dad’s already attacking me enough at home, as well as all the idiots who try and beat me up for some form of street cred. I don’t need another reason to be labeled a thug.”

     “I’d actually recommend trying a few times,” she said casually.

     “Yeah… wait, what? Why the hell?”, he asked after the surprise settled in.

     “With how he moves, he’d be a good person to train you agility on,” she admitted.

     He sighed at that. That was… an arguably fair point. “Fine, fine… guess we’ll see how it goes.”

     She nodded. “Right. Then-” *Ring* Her words were cut off by her Soul Pager going off. She looked at it. “Right… new orders. Let’s get going,” she said.

     “Hey, I still didn’t agree to help with this!” Still, he ran off after her, trying to keep up with the midget.

     Up above however, listening in from the top of the buildings, a certain man smiled. Flipping a rubber green combat knife in his hand, Nagisa Shiota smiled. “Bring it on, Mr. Kurosaki, Ms. Kuchiki. I invite all challengers. I sure hope you can do it before your graduation…”

 


	2. Arsenal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The more he learned about Nagisa , the less he made sense. Who was this man? Well, Mama Kurosaki didn’t raise someone content to sit and wait for answers, which was why he was heading to school early today. 
> 
> Keigo would have a conniption if he learned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ichigo did not want to be written this chapter, I swear. I'm just glad I got this horrible chapter out so I can move on closer to Soul Society...

As he headed to school, Ichigo mulled over what his life had become since Nagisa and Rukia had entered his life. It was weird enough when he ended up starting to fight monsters in out of body experiences…

* * *

_ “Why the hell are you just standing there, Ichigo?” _

_ “Can it, midget! First rule of being an Assassin, always observe for weak points!” _

_ “One, you’re not gonna find any just standing there, two, you’re not an assass-Ichigo look out!” _

_ “Woah, damn it!” _

* * *

...but then there were times where something strange would happen during a Hollow fight, and his teacher would be nearby. Like when he fought Acidwire...

* * *

_ Dodging an attack from Acidwire, he tried to focus on landing an attack to his mask. He was about to when out of nowhere the Hollow screamed.  _

_ Looking back, Ichigo would see that his tail had been cut off. But he had been too far from it to even touch it! Just past it though, he saw a familiar shade of blue hair walking off, twirling a green knife in his hands... _

* * *

...and then there was facing Shrieker just yesterday…

* * *

_ “What’s wrong, you were going to set it off, weren’t you? Come on and click your tongue!” This monster had killed this boy’s mother, and had proceeded to turn this boy’s afterlife into a game for his amusement. It was disgusting. It was horrifying. He would suffer, he would-! _

*BANG*  _ With a sudden impact, there was a hole straight through Shrieker’s head, right between his eyes. Caught by surprise, as the murderous Hollow fell limp, Ichigo turned to look behind himself and Rukia. His teacher stood there holding a gun, aimed directly past them. “...Never kill with that feeling in your heart,” Nagisa said sternly. He turned and started to walk. “When you kill, do so with a calm feeling in your heart. Not a frantic rage.” _

_ “Wait, Nagisa!”, he called out, before being cut off as a green light rose back by the fallen serial killer… _

* * *

...Indeed, the Gates of Hell had been a bit of a shock. More of a dull shock compared to the fact that apparently his teacher could not only see, but kill Hollows. The more he learned about Nagisa (which now that he thought on it, amounted to killing hollows and his behavior in the classroom), the less he made sense. Who was this man? Well, Mama Kurosaki didn’t raise someone content to sit and wait for answers, which was why he was heading to school early today. 

Keigo would have a conniption if he learned.

* * *

Ichigo sighed, pushing the door open to Nagisa’s classroom, seeing only the teacher there. “Nagisa… I think we need to talk…”, he said.

The blue haired teacher looked up, before nodding and motioning to a nearby chair. “Take a seat then, Kurosaki. I figured you’d be coming for answers after yesterday…”, he admitted to him.”

Ichigo nodded, moving to take a seat. He knew Nagisa, after all. He couldn’t impatiently demand answers, the teacher would just deflect and avoid them. If he wanted the truth, he had to play on his terms. “So then…. I-”

“Before you ask anything,” Nagisa interrupted, “you should know that there are certain questions I am not at liberty to answer. I will do my best to try, however.”

Ichigo nodded. He took a moment to actually think over his questions, reviewing what he knew about the blue haired enigma. It wasn’t a lot. He was a teacher. He had skills beyond any fighter he had seen. Skilled with weapons, if the spirit incidents showed anything. The question was why then. “....Who are you really?”, were the words that finally left his mouth.

Nagisa smiled sadly. “...I could answer that many ways. But the answer I think you want to hear, is that I’m an assassin. Trained in taking down my targets… and defending myself as necessary.”

An assassin.... As shocked as Ichigo knew he probably  _should_ feel, he knew deep down that everyone already figured that. After all, he had been teaching them the basic ideas of assassination already. I mean, he had them trying to kill him and everything. “Okay… but I figured that…”

Nagisa chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, that’s probably pretty obvious, but... “

“But you’re deflecting from the real answer,” Ichigo noted.

Nagisa sighed. “Guess I’m still easy to read sometimes…” He took a moment, before grabbing a bottle of water from under his desk. He unscrewed the lid, placing it down upon the desk. “Thirsty?”

Ichigo shook his head. “No….”

Nagisa nodded. Then, he placed a fingertip to the bottle’s side. Inside, the water glowed green lightly, before shooting up and into Nagisa’s mouth. Grinning at his student’s shock, he smiled. “That, is what is called Fullbring. Pulling on the soul of an inanimate object to make it help you. Softening asphalt, water walking, and with enough familiarity…. Even transform an item to create unique powers.”

Ichigo was stunned. That was… “So wait… what are you?”

“Human,” Nagisa assured. “Fullbring is a uniquely human power, though not the only one humans can use.” 

“...what’s your item then?”, Ichigo asked. “You mentioned familiarity with an item so… you must have one, yeah?”

Nagisa nodded. “Good catch. I’ll show you that after school however. It’s almost time for the school to properly open up, which means it’s time for you to take your seat, and me to finish gathering things.” With that, he stood up and left, leaving Ichigo alone in the room.

* * *

“So he’s a Fullbringer?”, Rukia asked, frowning. “I haven’t heard of those before… only Quincies….”

Ichigo nodded, noting to ask about Quincies later. “Right… Apparently he can pull on inanimate souls or whatever… Honestly, I’m more interested in whatever this unique item is…”

“Isn’t that why we’re heading to the roof?”, the petite Shinigami responded. 

“Yes. Yes it is.” Pushing open the access door, the two stepped out under the sunlight of another spring day. With nary a cloud in sight, it was…. Strange, that they couldn’t see their teacher who had promised to be here. Nagisa wasn’t the kind to outright lie or skip out on something he promised to a student. Which meant… He turned quickly, looking over the access door, smirking. “There you are…”

Nagisa smiled proudly, hopping down to the roof, looking at his students. “Glad to see you’re getting more observant…”

Rukia was more than a bit disturbed however.  _ I couldn’t even sense him... No, I still can’t! If he has powers… why can’t I feel him? _

The Substitute Shinigami simply looked at his teacher expectantly. “You promised to show off your ability before, yes? Well, here we are….”

That helped draw the teacher’s smile larger, as he pulled out a green rubber knife. “I won’t get into what this knife is to me… but what it does, I call Arsenal,” he said. The knife glowed neon green, and before their eyes, turned into the handgun he had held when they saw him yesterday. It shifted again, turning into a long taser. Again, into a sniper rifle. Again into… a cane? It shifted again, becoming a real knife. Once more, and it became a short sword. And one last time, it returned to the rubber knife. “Any weapon I’ve touched, I can replicate perfectly. Of course, I need to practice with that weapon like anyone else, but I have access to every aspect of it. If it requires ammo, I can easily create that ammo. Magazines, any attachments that I have laid hands on… it’s quite the useful ability.”

“Indeed it would be,” Rukia noted. “An assassin with access to the one stop weapon shop… I know that many of the Onmitsukido would kill for that ability…”

Nagisa smirked. “The stealth force, yes? I’ve heard rumors of them… I’d be happy to put them through their paces.”

“I doubt a human would be able to stand up to them…”, Rukia admitted, disbelief in her voice. “I mean, maybe one or two of them, but they would easily get to you working in their usual methods.”

Nagisa lowered his head, a few bangs covering his eyes. “Oh, I wonder…”

Ichigo looked at him. “I think the bigger question is how you got that power.”

The teacher shook his head. “No… the bigger question is what I’ll be doing now that you know.” He smiled. “From now on, I’ll ensure you receive the information you miss in class from having to go hollow hunting. I might even help out after school, so that you two can work on your homework.”

That caused them to sweat drop. “Really?”, Rukia asked. “Homework?”

He chuckled softly. “Indeed… I hope you realize that your education is as important as your duties. Especially you, Kurosaki. You’re still alive. You have a future to look forward to here in the living world. Now I won’t stop you from working to get stronger. You’ll need to fight for that to happen… but I’ll keep an eye out. I couldn’t call myself a teacher if I didn’t keep my students safe after all.”

That drew a smile from the human. “Heh… thanks, Teach.”

Of course the tender moment was interrupted by the ringing of Rukia’s soul pager. They looked at Nagisa, only for him to smile. “Go on you two. Sounds important.” With that, his feet glowed as he jumped off the roof to the next building, leaving them to go head after their next target.

* * *

Nagisa sighed as he entered his house. Looking around the apartment, he instantly drew his knife, shifting it into a handgun. 

A black cat looked him dead in the eye.


	3. Looming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa nodded. “...for my students’ sake, I’ll do what I have to.”
> 
> Yoruichi smiled. “...He’d be proud of you, you know.”
> 
> He returned the gesture. “I know.”

Human and cat stared each other down for a moment, before the former sighed, lowering his gun. “You know you should’ve alerted me to your presence. If I wasn’t as good as I am, I might’ve panic shot you.”

The cat smirked. “Perhaps, but I believe that the others and myself taught you and your class better than that.”

Nagisa shook his head. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Yoruichi-Sensei. Say, how is Tessai? I haven’t seen him in years now.”

“Perhaps if you would swing on by the shop, you could find out,” she told him.

The teacher, turning his gun back into a knife, shook his head as he holstered it. “...I am not going near Urahara again.” Moving towards his kitchen, the blunette was quick to pour a glass of water for himself, and a saucer of milk for the cat. “Not after what he pulled at graduation.”

The cat moved with him, standing before the saucer. “Now Nagisa, the little prank when you and the others graduated high school-”

“That’s not the one I meant,” he said curtly. “And willful ignorance is not a good look on you, _princess_.”

That drew a sour look from the cat. “Do you want me to transform right here and watch your reaction?”

“I don’t know, do you want me to use capture bandages to tie and cover you up?”, he shot back, quirking an eyebrow.

That drew a laugh from the cat, before she sobered up. “Nagisa… You know Kisuke only had good intentions with what he did. He didn’t… As much as it meant to Korosensei, Kisuke didn’t _want_ you all to have to experience what it felt like to have blood on your hands.”

“If that was his intention, he never would’ve allowed me to face Takaoka,” he retorted. “But instead…”

“I know what happened, I was there,” Yoruichi reminded him. “Nagisa… You can’t hold this against Kisuke forever. The only ones holding it against him are you, Kayano, and Karma.”

“Sensei, what did I say about willful ignorance?”, the youngest Shiota asked. “I told you… it’s not a good look on you. You’d have to be blind to think that Urahara has been forgiven by any of our class. Kurahashi refuses to stay in the room if the topic comes up. Ritsu actively ignores any communications from him. Hell, even Okajima gets sullen when he’s brought up. None of us have forgiven that man for trying to stop us from killing Korosensei.”

His former sensei however shook her head. “Okay, fine… I won’t argue that. But what I will point out is that your unwillingness to communicate will be dangerous going forward. Especially for your students.”

Nagisa couldn’t help losing control over his spirit energy at that moment, the spike being noticed by the spiritually aware of Karakura. “Talk faster.”

“We don’t know what Aizen is planning yet, but we think he’s going to be targeting Kuchiki soon,” Yoruichi said.

Nagisa sighed. “And knowing Kurosaki, he’ll risk everything to keep her safe. And he’d be followed by at least Sado, even without spiritual abilities…” He shook his head. “Damn it, if you’re right…”

“Then you won’t be able to avoid talking to Kisuke. Forgive him or not, we all need to work together to defeat Aizen. Especially since you haven’t met him yet.”

Nagisa nodded. He had been told about Aizen’s blade. It’s ability was honestly among one of the most broken things he had heard of, and that was even considering he knew Korosensei. “Right. Kyoka Suigetsu…”

“Ichigo is our last hope. His unique heritage will provide an excellent last line should all else fail. However,” she said, “you and your fellows from Class 3-E are still among our hopes. If it comes down to it, we’d rather you or one of the others step in to handle it.”

Nagisa nodded. “...for my students’ sake, I’ll do what I have to.”

Yoruichi smiled. “...He’d be proud of you, you know.”

He returned the gesture. “I know.”

* * *

Nagisa sighed as he headed down towards the river bank. Yesterday had been June 17th, and with it, Ichigo and Rukia had both missed school to observe the anniversary of Masaki Kurosaki’s death. Isshin had told him what had happened at the graveyard the previous night, and so now he was off to check on his orange haired student. He wanted to be sure that he was handling things well.

As he approached, he’d see the 15 year old standing over the river, looking out over it. He took his usual approach, naturally concealing his presence as he-

“Might as well join me sensei.”

Nagisa had to reign in his surprise at how easily Ichigo was finding him now, something that was easy to do given that he was genuinely proud that Ichigo was getting better at detecting others thanks to constant exposure to someone who naturally hid themself. “If you wish,” he said, moving to join him there.

For ten minutes the two stood silent, testing each other to see who would cut open the conversation they were there to have. Eventually, Ichigo gave in. “...A hollow killed my mother,” he ended up saying.

“I’m guessing it got away yesterday?”, he asked. Noticing the look Ichigo was giving, he cut him off before assumptions could be made. “No, Rukia did not tell me. It just happens that I know you well enough to guess where you’ll take certain conversations. At least, I’d like to think so…”

The Substitute Shinigami sighed. “Well, you got it in one. It was tricky, using my mother’s image to cause me to hesitate, and it was able to regenerate as long as I didn’t cut down both its body and his lure. I just… I wasn’t strong enough.”

“And that’s okay,” Nagisa said. “You will find that starting out, you’ll be much weaker than you want to be… but if you have a weakness, look to cover it with a strength. If you can’t move fast, make the strikes you land count. If you can’t make your strikes count, make sure you can land them more often. If you can’t do either, learn to attack at range. If your aim is bad, learn to hit multiple areas at once. If you don’t have the energy for that, learn to corner your opponent so you only have to destroy so much to hit them. If you can’t do something, learn something else. That is a strength anyone can learn… and that all who are strong know.”

Ichigo looked to Nagisa. “...Sensei, that day, the first one with Rukia… you said my Dad called you. Why would he-”

“He’s a friend of a friend,” Nagisa admitted. “Met years ago, back before your mom passed away. Didn’t get to meet her, but from what I hear she was a very caring person. Much better than my own mother was,” he admitted.

The eldest Kurosaki child nodded. “...Sensei. Can you teach me how to be stronger?”

“What, did my lesson pass from one ear to the other?”, his teacher teased lightly, drawing a scowl out of the carrot top.

“I meant practical lessons. Physical training.”

“I suppose I could…”, he reasoned. “But then what has my classroom been then?”

That caught Ichigo off guard. “What do you mean?”

Nagisa laughed softly. “Ichigo, when I asked you all to try and kill me by your graduation, I truly meant it.”

“WHAT?”

The assassin smiled. “I highly doubt you’ll ever be able to do so… but you all have forced yourself to get faster and more clever just to try and have a chance. The whole point of trying to kill me is to give you all a practical way to work towards getting stronger. It also works as a goal you all can strive for, either alone or by working together, which is another way to gain strength by covering weaknesses.”

Ichigo nodded softly at that, reflecting on his words. “Sensei… thank you.”

He smiled. “Of course.” Seeing his task done, he moved to leave.

“Say, Sensei… what drove you to get strong?”

Nagisa paused at that. “...Same as you. Good friends… heated battles… and one hell of a teacher,” he decided to tell him, before walking away.

* * *

After that day, time passed on pretty normally for Nagisa. At least until one school day. He had been heading into school early, using Bringer’s Light to travel fast over the rooftops. All of a sudden, it felt as if a beast was bearing down upon him, and instinctively he dodged, rolling forward onto the next building. Looking back, he smiled at the large sword, and the orange haired one wielding it. “Nice to see you finally trying this option of succeeding, Ichigo. You even tracked down which route I take to and from school.”

The substitute smirked. “You didn’t make it easy. You change your route every day between five different ones…”

“Gotta make it some form of challenge,” the Fullbringer teased. “Especially given that you haven’t really put too much effort into this.” Without even worrying, Nagisa pulled on the roof with Fullbring, raising it as a wall to block the pale flames that had tried to catch him off guard. “A good attempt, but the surge in Reiatsu alerted me to your attack, Rukia.”

The unseated officer frowned as she landed on the roof, putting her teacher between her and her fellow Shinigami. “Still had to try. I only have so much power as I am…”, she admitted.

That drew a smiled from her teacher. “Good. Knowing your limitations is important.” With that said, he drew Arsenal and activated it, turning it into a short sword with a strange guard, shaped like an S. “But you better be ready for my counter offensive.” He rushed to Rukia first, using Bringer’s Light to slip behind her, smiling as she dodged the blade heading for her neck. He kept moving, keeping the assault up.

Rukia was surprised when she found him slipping inside her guard, twisting her head to avoid his sword as she retreated back. At the same time, Ichigo dashed forward to intercept Nagisa, swinging his sword down upon the blue haired assassin. Of course, Nagisa pulled up his weapon, blocking the attack with minimal effort.

“Good,” he praised. “Never work alone if you can help it. Although necessary sometimes, it’s better to have someone watching your back.” He reached up, pushing away the huge blade away by its flat, transforming his blade into a reverse bladed katana, the blunt end sending Ichigo flying back to meet Rukia. He couldn’t help his smile though as Ichigo dug his sword into a roof, correcting himself mid flight and landing on his feet. “There you go…”

Ichigo frowned, pulling the as of yet unnamed blade free. “Jeez… doesn’t seem to have any openings… none that we can take advantage of anyway.”

Rukia nodded in agreement. “If I had my powers, it might be different, but given how we are right now…”

He nodded. “Given how we are, we’ll probably need to force an opening instead.”

The look he got from her at that was drier than Hueco Mundo. “Ichigo, that makes no sense. How the hell are we going to _make_ an opening when we can’t capitalize on the ones already there?”

“And what if they’re false openings?”, the strawberry asked. “I once watched this anime where one of the guys used a sword style where he created false openings in his stance to draw in his opponents, and since he knew where they’d strike, he’d be able to counter them easily. Maybe that’s what sensei is doing!”

“And what does that have to do with making an opening?”, the midget asked.

“Simple, we don’t go for the openings he makes, we make one so he doesn’t know how to counter it!”

“That’s the dumbest idea I’ve heard.”

“No dumber than your drawings.”

Nagisa couldn’t help but shake his head, watching as Rukia kicked Ichigo in the face for that. These two were certainly… interesting. “Alright, I think that’s enough for this attempt...Gotta get to class after all. And you two certainly don’t want to be tardy, now do you?”, he asked, smiling.

The two students looked at him, before scrambling to get over to class, Ichigo having to stop and grab his body.

* * *

It was almost the summer break, finally. The semester had passed fast, from Nagisa’s point of view. Indeed, Especially with the arrival of Rukia Kuchiki, things had been coming along at a faster pace than expected. And with Yoruichi’s warnings about Aizen… The teacher sighed, pausing the grading of papers and turning to his computer. Pulling up the browser on his computer, he typed in a specific site, one that acted as a code to catch Ritsu’s attention now that she was in the internet.

The cheery girl soon appeared on his screen, waving. “Nagisa, hey! How’s it going?”

Nagisa smiled. “It’s going good. Sorry I haven’t reached out to anyone in a few weeks. A teacher’s job is never over and what not…”, he said, chuckling.

She smiled. “It’s okay. As long as you’re doing okay, right?” Seeing his nod through his webcam, her smile grew larger. “That’s good. Speaking of your job, how are the students?”

He smiled, moving to keep grading papers. “They’re pretty good, actually. They’re certainly no E class, but with me pushing them to try and kill me before graduation, they’re all starting to show progress. Even some of the less studious ones are doing better.”

She giggled gently at that, floating about in the ether. “Well, giving them a goal does tend to do that, no?”

He nodded, his smile dropping a bit at that. “Yeah…”

She looked at him softly. “Nagisa… what’s going on?”

He sighed, before biting the bullet. “I need you to get in contact with Urahara.”

The look she gave him was one of shock. “Nagisa, are you sure? After everything… he tried to kill Korosensei in our place! He knew what it meant to us, to Korosensei, that it be us. And now-”

“And now Aizen is on the move, and he’s probably going to be targeting one of my students, dragging several more into the fight as a result,” Nagisa said firmly. “I haven’t talked to him either, but… Yoruichi-sensei reached out to me. My students are more important to me than holding Urahara’s sins against him.”

“...The others might not come, you know,” Ritsu said softly.

“I never said anything about contacting the others,” he defended.

“You were going to,” she said knowingly.

He sighed. “Yeah, I know most won’t come, but… Kaede and Karma might, right? And Karasuma-sensei…”

“If he can get the time off from the MOD,” Ritsu acknowledged. “But that might not be happening soon… And Karma is still tied up with government work as well. Kaede would drop everything though if you asked…”, she said knowingly, giving him a teasing look. One that was pointedly ignored. The A.I. sighed. “Fine, I’ll talk with Urahara and the others.”

Nagisa nodded. “And if it comes to it… consider Project Refitted Spear, okay?”

Ritsu frowned. “But, if I did that…”

“I’m sure Urahara could make things work,” he assured, smiling gently. “Still, you don’t have to, okay?” Seeing her nod in response, he nodded back. “Thank you Ritsu. This means a lot-”

**_*DREAD*_ **

Nagisa bolted to his feet. “...damn it, those idiots!”

Ritsu looked at him. “Nagisa, what happened?”

“Ritsu, gonna need that communications opened up now. Put out an emergency message to everyone. Someone just used Hollow bait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So then... this chapter hated me. I don't necessarily like it either. But it's a need piece. Because now that it's done, I can deal with the hollow bait incident and then move right into a certain two shinigami showing up. Can't wait to finally get to the meat of this story. 
> 
> Bonus points if you can find the easter eggs I hid in the fight scene in this chapter. (It's my first fight scene at all, really. T-T Gonna need to get used to them...)


	4. A Preview... and What happened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A man with black hair sat down upon a loveseat. He turned on the TV, and proceeded to watch what came on, a soft smile upon his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I ended up banging this out. Enjoy a brief glimpse at what may be... and what has become of someone else.

A man with black hair sat down upon a loveseat. He turned on the TV, and proceeded to watch what came on, a soft smile upon his face.

* * *

_Nagisa desperately wanted to rush in, to deal with the menos and not risk his students. Unfortunately, he was locked in place thanks to six beams of light currently embedded in his waist._

_“My my…”, a cordial voice said, approaching from behind. “No need to jump the gun. I’m sure they have this.”_

_“...You have ten seconds to release me before I forget that you’re needed, Urahara.”_

* * *

_“And what are you doing here, human?”, Byakuya asked, sending a glance at the gentleman approaching behind Uryu._

_The man simply smiled, purple eyes shining. “Well, an old rival of mine couldn’t make it, so I just had to, to show him up.”_

_“Hmph. That means nothing to me,” the captain said, but didn’t look away from him._

_“Perhaps not. Nor would my name, but it would be rude not to give it, no? I am… Gakushu Asano.”_

* * *

_"What the hell do you mean we can’t go after her?”, Ichigo shouted at his teacher._

_“I mean that we can’t go_ yet _. You just got back your powers, you still need a few days to train and relax. The others are still training. And as for me, I’m still gathering our allies.”_

_The student couldn’t believe that his eyes were going wider at that, but they had. “Wait, you don’t mean…”_

_Nagisa smiled. “Indeed. Class 3-E’s Spirit Team is reuniting.”_

* * *

_“Who… What are you?”, she asked, looking at her in shock._

_“Well for what, you could say I’m a weapon that grew legs,” the strange girl admitted, before smiling. “As far as who… My name is Ritsu.”_

* * *

_“Simple trash… I don’t understand what_ he _saw in you,” Ulquiorra said as he stared Ichigo in the eye._

_“Enough,” Ichigo growled. “Just tell me where Sensei is!”_

* * *

_Karma glared at his target. “What the hell would you know about Nagisa, huh, you bastard?”_

_That grin only seemed to grow. “What, he never told you? I’ve been his tutor since Korosensei was still around.”_

* * *

_“Impossible,” Shunsui whispered. Indeed, it could seem impossible, but it really only should have been expected. After all, a phoenix rising from their ashes was not a miracle, but an inevitability._

_And so Tadaomi Karasuma_ **soared.**

* * *

_Tatsuki looked around. “...One of us has to do it, right?”, she asked. The friends around her all seemed startled by that fact. They knew it from holding him down, but, as they looked around…_

_“Guys, let me. I’ll do it.”_

_Ichigo strode forward. Clad in his shinigami robes, tattered as they were, he wielded a blade in his hand. It was not Zangetsu though._

_It was a simple green rubber knife._

* * *

The TV was turned off as another entered the room. “You shouldn’t worry to much about what will be. None of that is set in stone…”, a rather large man told the black haired man.

He smiled. “Perhaps, but I like to keep an eye on the ones I care for…”

“Hmm...It is lucky that we found you when we did. Despite not being a Shinigami just yet, your abilities and powers certainly make you a powerful ally. I can see why the Soul King chose you to join the Royal Guard outright.” He laughed gently. “You know it’s strange. I look at you, and yet you have so many names. All of them real, all of them true.”

His grin didn’t move an inch. “You would know, wouldn’t you, Monk Who Calls the Real Name.”

Ichibei matched grin for grin. “Indeed. This is the first time I’ve ever had to do this. Tell me, what is your name?”

The black haired man smiled, raising a hand to scratch the back of his head. “Well, to be honest, there’s only one name I really identify with anymore. You can call me…”

* * *

_"Honestly, there isn't much meaning to the splendid names given to you by your parents. What does have meaning, is what the person behind that name does during their actual lifetime. The name doesn't make the person. The name simply remains gently within the footprint left on the path a person walks."_

* * *

“...Korosensei.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What, did you think I'd cross over AC with a show with the afterlife and not include the man?


End file.
